5 unfortunate consequences of Hollywood Brown’s season-ending injury

On Saturday, the news got even worse for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Hollywood Brown: It was reported that the veteran receiver would be out far longer than originally expected due to a sternoclavicular injury.

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter broke the news that Brown would remain on the Chiefs’ injured list for far more than the required four games, instead stating that the Chiefs wide receiver is not expected to play at all in the 2024 NFL season.

While it’s entirely possible that Schefter’s timeline is off and Brown could somehow not return until late in the regular season or even the postseason, the truth is now upon the Chiefs Kingdom and its favorite team: The most exciting free-agent signing and the supposed WR1 for the team at the start of the 2024 season is now completely off the table.

Given the severity of the injury, the expectations surrounding it, and the way all of the factors are intertwined, the news that Brown will sit out the 2024 season will have far more impact than is immediately apparent. But to be clear, there are a few things to consider here, too.

Here’s a look at five unfortunate consequences of Brown’s injury.

From the moment Hollywood Brown signed with the Chiefs, everything revolved around the chemistry that developed between the Chiefs’ new addition and their superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Shortly after signing with the Chiefs in late March, Brown was already finding ways to work out with Mahomes and catch passes from him, along with Rashee Rice. “I would say I was impressed with how hungry he was. You can tell he wants it. He wants to win,” Mahomes said at the time.

By the end of May, Andy Reid had already noticed the chemistry between QB and WR and expressed it to reporters. “Hollywood is doing a good job out there as a receiver,” Reid said after officially seeing him for the first time. “Looks like he and Pat are developing chemistry.”

Two weeks later, in mid-June, the team held its mandatory minicamp, and Andy Reid said it was again a highlight reel of what he’s seen on offense. “(Mahomes and Brown) have a good connection on that part of it; they talk to each other. Once Patrick knows what Hollywood is thinking — and Hollywood knows where Patrick can physically take the ball — that’s a good thing.”

For a player who built such a strong connection so quickly and who was so easily entangled as a central figure in this offense, not being able to demonstrate that chemistry at the crucial moment is frustrating for everyone involved.

Not only were the Chiefs excited about Hollywood Brown, but Brown was excited about Kansas City as well. Brown was effusive in his praise of the Chiefs after his signing and became the ideal student of the coaching staff, looking to make himself as useful as possible to a team seeking its third consecutive title.

Even in our recent interview with Brown, he detailed how he told his agent to make something happen in KC at all costs in free agency and how excited he was to join the Chiefs in the offseason along with Xavier Worthy.

Some players have the ability to ingratiate themselves into the community as if they’ve always been a part of it. They love the city and the city loves them back. They’re often hard-working players with talent in abundance and become instant fan favorites for one reason or another. Drue Tranquill was such a player a year ago and Brown looked like this year’s version.

Unfortunately, Brown won’t get to experience the thrill of Kansas City loving him in return – with record-breaking noise at Arrowhead Stadium after he scores a touchdown.

It’s no secret by now: Last year was an uphill battle for the Chiefs offense. That might sound silly to someone who doesn’t know the history, since the Chiefs still won the Super Bowl. The truth is, however, that Patrick Mahomes and Co. have described the frustrating offense of the 2023 season in a variety of ways. In short, no one had much fun week to week.

Much of the blame can be placed on the shortened field that Mahomes had to operate on. After trading Tyreek Hill in 2022, the Chiefs lost the ability to truly stretch the field – and thus challenge a defense with a respected vertical threat. Looking back, Mahomes averaged 7.0 yards per attempt, which is over a yard less than his 8.1 yards per attempt average in his first five seasons as a starter.

Since the first OTAs after the NFL Draft, the Chiefs have put emphasis on the long game again. Mahomes told reporters in the spring: “I think we’ve done a good job of playing the medium and short plays, but we want to get that part of the offense back as well… Coach (Andy Reid) is really pushing us to get down the field. It’s hard to do that against our defense, but we’re trying to do it.”

To force the defense to respect the threat from deep, the Chiefs made two big investments: They signed Brown and used their first-round draft pick to acquire Xavier Worthy.

What made the new additions so ideal for the Chiefs was that Brown’s experience and veteran skills provided the ideal backup for Worthy to get used to the pros. Imagine Alex Smith as a first-year replacement for a Mahomes. Worthy could take his time learning the nuances of the team’s offense without having to be its centerpiece. Meanwhile, Brown’s own high speed was more than enough to keep the defense in check and push the safeties further back than they’d been comfortable with in games against the Chiefs in recent years.

Without Brown, Worthy now feels the full weight of those vertical hopes. The Chiefs may be trying to shift some of that pressure onto a rookie, but the truth is that there’s no one else who can carry the offense far enough back for defenses to respect him. It’s not Justin Watson or Nikko Remigio, and it’s certainly not Justyn Ross or the ghost of JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The reason vertical play is so important is because it opens up space for playmakers closer to the line of scrimmage in the short and intermediate games. You could see it in the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens when Worthy’s presence gave Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce more room to play than ever. Now that space is in short supply.

Will Worthy be able to stay healthy and handle that kind of load? The Chiefs certainly hope so, because their mid-to-second-level passing game is all the more dangerous when instinctive pass catchers like Rice, Kelce and Noah Gray have so much more room to maneuver. It’s also a lot easier to move the lines.

The frustration here is doubly great knowing that the team tried so hard to make life easier for Travis Kelce over his last two seasons. By signing Brown, the Chiefs would have gotten another proven pass receiver with reliable hands who could make music for the Chiefs in both the intermediate and deeper passing game.

Now Kelce will likely take on a little more responsibility as the Chiefs figure out long-term how to give Worthy some training wheels while they continue to move things forward on the field.

As mentioned above, there is a connection between rosters in the NFL that cannot be overstated. The Chiefs traded Tyreek and lost some offensive power in the process, but those changed players and priorities have allowed the Chiefs to build one of the most physical defenses in the league – a unit that won them a title in Super Bowl LVIII.

This year, the Chiefs spent several million to sign Brown for a year in the hopes that he could bolster the offense. In turn, they lacked the money to sign L’Jarius Sneed long-term or to keep linebacker Willie Gay Jr. for just $3 million for one season (he went to New Orleans). No team can keep every player, but the goal was to bolster the offense so the defense wouldn’t be under as much pressure.

Well, at this point, Spags has to coach the third-youngest roster in the NFL to not only make up for last year’s losses, but also to fix the part of the offense that was supposed to keep the balance – whether you like it or not.